The day after Christmas is always special in Canada; it's Boxing Day. Plus, it means the start of the World Junior Hockey Championship. While both annual events have their adherents on this side of the border, this year brings a greater spotlight for the tournament because the NHL lockout has left fans starved for action.

Because this year's edition of the World Juniors is being held in Ufa, Russia—about halfway between Moscow and Kazakhstan—watching live means hockey at unusual hours of the day. The tournament opens with Canada against Germany at 4:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday, while Team USA opens play against the Germans on Thursday at 9 ET.

Of course the Edmonton Oilers allowed Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to play for Team Canada. (AP Photo)

Jones, who plays for the Portland Winterhawks in the Western Hockey League, already has generated a lot of buzz because his father is former NBA forward Popeye Jones, and because he could very well wind up being the first African-American to be drafted No. 1 in the NHL. For most American fans, the WJC represents the first chance to see Jones as a hockey player, and not as a bundle of biographical information.

While Jones is undoubtedly the player to watch on Team USA's blue line, the forward group is headlined by two players who already have been drafted by NHL clubs. John Gaudreau of Boston College and the Calgary Flames is the odds-on favorite for this year's Hobey Baker Award, with 11 goals and 12 assists in 14 games so far this season, while Alex Galchenyuk, the Montreal Canadiens' first-round pick this June, has been tearing up the Ontario Hockey League with the Sarnia Sting, with 27 goals and 34 assists in 33 games.

Along with the U.S., Canada, and Germany, Group B features Slovakia and host Russia. It is a trickier circuit than Group A (Czech Republic, Finland, Latvia, Sweden, and Switzerland).

The Swedes are the defending champions, but lost tune-up games to the U.S. and Canada last week in Helsinki — in overtime and a shootout, respectively. Things may have been different in those games, and in the tournament to come, had Sweden been able to call upon forward Mika Zibanejad. Unfortunately for the Tre Kronor, the Ottawa Senators refused to allow the 19-year-old to leave their AHL affiliate in Binghamton, where he has been limited to 16 games this season after getting his wisdom teeth removed and a series of illnesses.

"It’s pretty damn sad to me that Canadians in Ottawa’s management will sit and decide about the Swedish junior national team,” Sweden coach Richard Ronnberg told the Ottawa Sun earlier this month. “Europeans always have to be on our backs for them over there and that they can dictate and decide about these tournaments."

To drive Ronnberg's point home, the Edmonton Oilers did allow Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to leave their AHL team in Oklahoma City for Ufa. Nugent-Hopkins, the No. 1 pick in the 2011 NHL draft, will be Canada's captain. While NHL fans are familiar with Nugent-Hopkins, the WJC will provide a chance to get a look at the other top prospects suiting up for Canada, led by forwards Jonathan Huberdeau (Panthers), Mark Scheifele (Jets), and Ryan Strome (Islanders), and defensemen Dougie Hamilton (Bruins), Scott Harrington (Penguins), and Ryan Murphy (Hurricanes).

Those aren't the only names to know. Another one to keep in mind is Latvia goaltender Elvis Merzlikins, who plays for HC Lugano in Switzerland, is undrafted by the NHL, and gave up 14 goals to Russia in last year's tournament. Odds are that most fans will never hear from him again after this edition of the WJC, but everyone's life is better for the knowledge that there's a Latvian goalie named Elvis Merzlikins.

As for those Russians who strafed Merzlikins a year ago, the hosts of this year's WJC stand as the favorites to win, led by Nail Yakupov, the top pick of the 2012 NHL draft by the Oilers, as well as Buffalo Sabres first-rounder Mikhail Grigorenko and Bruins prospect Alexander Khokhlachev.

In addition to Grigorenko, Sabres fans will want to keep an eye on Russian goaltender Andrei Makarov. Buffalo is one of the best-represented NHL teams in Ufa, as defenseman Jake McCabe from the University of Wisconsin serves as Team USA's captain and 2011 first-round pick Joel Armia plays in his second straight WJC for Finland.

The Finns had a strong run-up to the tournament, beating both Canada and the U.S. last week, with Flames prospect Markus Granlund scoring in both games. Aleksander Barkov of Tappera Tampere, who had a goal and two assists against the Americans, last year became the second-youngest player to score a WJC goal, and now is back for more as he builds up his resume for the 2013 NHL draft. This tournament is, after all, about the future, which makes it nice to focus on when hockey's present is so grim.